


Finer Qualities

by darthaline



Series: Night Conceals All [3]
Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Polyamorous Character, Relationship Bureaucracy, Retrospective, Written pre-v1.0
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24342448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthaline/pseuds/darthaline
Summary: He was naive back then, and drafted their marital pact much like any other document. As it turned out, no wedding vows would make Persephone suddenly stop being herself.
Relationships: Hades & Nyx (Hades Video Game), Hades/Persephone (Hades Video Game), Nyx/Persephone (Hades Video Game)
Series: Night Conceals All [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669255
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	Finer Qualities

**Author's Note:**

> No game spoilers except for the very first flashback sequence.
> 
> It's 3rd part of the "Night Conceals All" series, but it can be read as a separate story.

The Fates’ design kept Hades and Nyx plenty occupied with running things smoothly in the Underworld. She didn’t object to his presence, but for a long time there was a careful distance she maintained. It pained him to know that his brothers’ reputation would sully his so, but the only thing he could do is respect her wishes, and focus on work.

His family had plenty of ideas too, between Zeus marrying Hera, and producing a brood of troublesome offspring which sent mortals to their final threshold in droves. Hades’ other brothers and sisters were no better. Poseidon entertained himself with sea storms and hurricanes, and Demeter started a feud against the mortals, which the pitiful beings surely wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for Prometheus’ stolen fire.

Persephone cared not for any of those things. To her, the divine politics were something to smash apart like an old pot. She simply stumbled into the meadow at the entrance of the Temple of Styx with childlike wonder and curiosity, and for whatever reason chose to stay.

Hades was terribly smitten with her then. Her mind was as sharp as a sword, but she found it much more exciting to pull Gordian Knots apart with her bare hands. Simply talking to her made him feel more alive than he ever felt in years, but he grew possessive, and he rushed it. The courting was short and felt like a feverish dream, full of passion and sickeningly sweet taste of ambrosia, as was customary.

He was naive back then, and drafted their marital pact much like any other document. As it turned out, no wedding vows would make Persephone suddenly stop being herself, as she interpreted the pact but with as much freedom as his dry bureaucratic wording allowed.

She quickly made friends in the Underworld with her charm and wit. Hades’ jealousy brewed, but somehow he never expected his wife to sit him down at the edge of their marital bed, as she brought in mortified Nyx, and took her apart with her mouth and fingers right in front of him.

“I promised to never share my bed with other men without my lord husband’s knowledge,” she said with a smile, as if it was a funny joke.

“You didn’t discuss this..?” Nyx said, with concern. She looked from one to another, and carefully tried to cover herself.

“You could have simply pointed out that loophole back when I was still drafting the pact,” he replied tensely. Persephone’s brand of boldness always left him lost and uncertain, unable to muster the wrath which seemed so easy to awaken for anyone else.

“It’s true, but where’s the fun in that?” she said, as she pulled him into a kiss, tasting faintly of lavender.

Having made her point, Persephone didn’t attempt to bring any more of the underworld denizens into their bedroom, but Nyx became a regular guest nevertheless. Persephone’s love was shared generously, and an uncertain understanding grew between him and Nyx. Ultimately, Hades supposed, Nyx was the last person to try and undermine him. A fragile shared intimacy simply brought a surprising balance to their operations.

All of it seemed almost idyllic in retrospect, up until the boy’s birth. There was a brief moment, when Hades was just happy that both Persephone and the boy were alright, but it didn’t last, as his wife chose that day to disclose her origin to him. Kore, she was called by her mother. She wasn’t just a mortal, oh no. It didn’t unravel all at once, but the trust was shattered, much like an old pot, and it only took her a few months and a note to practically demonstrate other loopholes in their marital pact.


End file.
